Is it necessary to get the truck aligned right now (lifting the rear throws of the front caster) or could I wait until I install the Eibachs during Christmas?

My biggest concern is premature tire wear.

Thanks in advance!

Lifting just the rear isn't going to change alignment but since you've done the fronts (with lift adjustment) you should get an alignment as soon as practical, depending how many miles you drive, but def. before Christmas, I'd say within the next 2 weeks if possible...

Lifting just the rear isn't going to change alignment but since you've done the fronts (with lift adjustment) you should get an alignment as soon as practical, depending how many miles you drive, but def. before Christmas, I'd say within the next 2 weeks if possible...

Thanks for the input man

Sorry for the confusion, though. I had my 5100's installed and aligned last year.

ok so just making sure i got this right, so you installed the 5100s, got it alligned, then you just installed a 2 inch AAL. your wondering if you need to allign it before christmas or can you wait till you put eibachs on after christmas to allign it?

Are you riding Baracuda style til Christmas or do you have the 5100's set at 1.75 or 2.5?

I agree with 97yota, you'll be fine til Christmas. Caster does not wear tires, camber and toe wear down tires. Caster causes the truck to wander at speed. If it feels alright to you on the highway, I'd say you're good to go til Christmas.

You are good go since the rear is a solid axle, it won't change the alignment. all it does it move the whole axle up or down. Alignment is crucial for the front because lifting the IFS pivots the wheels.

ok so just making sure i got this right, so you installed the 5100s, got it alligned, then you just installed a 2 inch AAL. your wondering if you need to allign it before christmas or can you wait till you put eibachs on after christmas to allign it?

^^ if this is right i say your fine to wait

Correct! thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pugga

Are you riding Baracuda style til Christmas or do you have the 5100's set at 1.75 or 2.5?

I agree with 97yota, you'll be fine til Christmas. Caster does not wear tires, camber and toe wear down tires. Caster causes the truck to wander at speed. If it feels alright to you on the highway, I'd say you're good to go til Christmas.

Super Baracuda, i call it the orb (opposite of bro) haha and Bilsteins at 1.75.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KPT

You are good go since the rear is a solid axle, it won't change the alignment. all it does it move the whole axle up or down. Alignment is crucial for the front because lifting the IFS pivots the wheels.

Would caster change, why shouldn't it? Caster relative to the wheel & body should not change but caster relative to the road should. For example, if you continue to raise the rear you change the geometry of the body in relation to the ground front/back. The caster relative to the ground in theory should change. Kind of like lifting a wheel barrel and steering it.
Toyota's specifies caster with the geometry of the vehicle taken into account. If you look over toyota's alignment procedure, they measure the rear body height. Or, am I missing something obvious.

Would caster change, why shouldn't it? Caster relative to the wheel & body should not change but caster relative to the road should. For example, if you continue to raise the rear you change the geometry of the body in relation to the ground front/back. The caster relative to the ground in theory should change. Kind of like lifting a wheel barrel and steering it.
Toyota's specifies caster with the geometry of the vehicle taken into account. If you look over toyota's alignment procedure, they measure the rear body height. Or, am I missing something obvious.

It is my understanding that caster is only really important on your wheels that do the steering.

Quote:

THE EFFECTS OF CASTER

Caster is the angle to which the steering pivot axis is tilted forward or rearward from vertical, as viewed from the side. If the pivot axis is tilted backward (that is, the top pivot is positioned farther rearward than the bottom pivot), then the caster is positive; if it's tilted forward, then the caster is negative.

Positive caster tends to straighten the wheel when the vehicle is traveling forward, and thus is used to enhance straight-line stability. The mechanism that causes this tendency is clearly illustrated by the castering front wheels of a shopping cart (above). The steering axis of a shopping cart wheel is set forward of where the wheel contacts the ground. As the cart is pushed forward, the steering axis pulls the wheel along, and since the wheel drags along the ground, it falls directly in line behind the steering axis. The force that causes the wheel to follow the steering axis is proportional to the distance between the steering axis and the wheel-to-ground contact patch-the greater the distance, the greater the force. This distance is referred to as "trail."

Due to many design considerations, it is desirable to have the steering axis of a car's wheel right at the wheel hub. If the steering axis were to be set vertical with this layout, the axis would be coincident with the tire contact patch. The trail would be zero, and no castering would be generated. The wheel would be essentially free to spin about the patch (actually, the tire itself generates a bit of a castering effect due to a phenomenon known as "pneumatic trail," but this effect is much smaller than that created by mechanical castering, so we'll ignore it here). Fortunately, it is possible to create castering by tilting the steering axis in the positive direction. With such an arrangement, the steering axis intersects the ground at a point in front of the tire contact patch, and thus the same effect as seen in the shopping cart casters is achieved.

The tilted steering axis has another important effect on suspension geometry. Since the wheel rotates about a tilted axis, the wheel gains camber as it is turned. This effect is best visualized by imagining the unrealistically extreme case where the steering axis would be horizontal-as the steering wheel is turned, the road wheel would simply change camber rather than direction. This effect causes the outside wheel in a turn to gain negative camber, while the inside wheel gains positive camber. These camber changes are generally favorable for cornering, although it is possible to overdo it.

Most cars are not particularly sensitive to caster settings. Nevertheless, it is important to ensure that the caster is the same on both sides of the car to avoid the tendency to pull to one side. While greater caster angles serve to improve straight-line stability, they also cause an increase in steering effort. Three to five degrees of positive caster is the typical range of settings, with lower angles being used on heavier vehicles to keep the steering effort reasonable.